Ali will stay away...

...From projects that objectify women

Amid allegations of sexual harassment, Pakistani singeractor Ali Zafar says he would like to stay away from films or songs that involve objectification of women. Ali refused to comment on the ongoing legal battle with singer Meesha Shafi, who accused him of sexual harassment in April on social media, as the “matter is subjudice”.

But he did share his thoughts on the trend of item numbers in the entertainment industry. “It depends on how it is done. Freedom of expression is something that we have. We should have the right to have that but how we use it, is very important. If it doesn’t demean a woman or objectify women and is done in an entertaining manner, I don’t see any harm in that,” Ali said. If done distastefully, he said: “I would personally stay away from it.”

He did sing and feature in the video of the song Item number. It is not like the usual item numbers that are often sexually provocative dance sequences in films. Asked if his song takes a dig at

Bollywood films, Ali, who has starred in

Indian films like Tere Bin Laden and

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, said: “No, it’s not that. There is this interesting debate going on ... whether an item number needs to be there in a film for the film to work or not.

“There are some people who are more towards that kind of cinema which is more realistic. They say their films should not have an item number and there are others in the commercial world. They say there should be item numbers in films and there is nothing wrong with it. This (Item number) is our take on the whole conversation,” he added.

The song is part of his forthcoming film Teefa

In Trouble — his debut film in Pakistani cinema.

Apart from acting and singing, he has also co-produced and co-written the film that will show Maya

Ali romancing him on-screen.